Even in retirement, Michel Sardou continues to arouse interest and controversy. Barely finished his triumphant tour (400,000 spectators for 60 dates), the artist will be elevated to the rank of Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit by Emmanuel Macron in June according to Le Nouvel Obs – the ceremony was to take place in March as announced it in Le Figaro but had to be postponed. Critics quickly flocked to denounce this choice. Sandrine Rousseau explained that “the patriarchy will fall, it is already wavering. But they will all decorate each other first.” Laurence Rossignol lambasted the song Les Cities de Solitude: ““I want to rape women, to force them to admire me.” We are reassured, it is just an expression of masculine unease. And it definitely deserves decoration!” The former Minister of the Family of François Hollande refers to the reason for this decoration. “He was able to diagnose, decades before Michel Houellebecq, male discomfort in his texts,” we can read in the weekly. A statement that comes from the close entourage of the President of the Republic.
We have to sort it out. Emmanuel Macron first pays homage to the last sacred monster of the song. Since the deaths of Johnny Hallyday and Charles Aznavour, Michel Sardou, with 100 million records under his belt, remains a national monument. An artist who spans generations and whose voice has served as the soundtrack to the lives of the French. And presidents – who decorated him abundantly whatever their political leaning: he sang Les Ricains under de Gaulle, Les Bals populaire under Pompidou, Le France under Giscard, Les Deux écoles under Mitterrand, La rivière de notre childhood under Chirac, Women of the 2010s under Sarkozy or euthanasia under Macron.
Beyond a political act – largely overinterpreted -, the President of the Republic salutes a popular singer he appreciates: he sings with his advisors – convinced “sardouphiles” like Bruno Roger-Petit and Jonathan Guémas – Vladimir Illitch or less known 55 days 55 nights.
The controversy launched by some of the feminists is scratched like an old LP: Sardou the reactionary and the misogynist, it has lasted 60 years. Titles like Good evening Clara, The cities of Solitude or I will love you are all evidence in the trial of the accused Sardou. This is without taking into account the context of the 70s, the character of the singer – who loves to use the “I”, a way of compensating for the actor he was unable to be -, or the contradictory complete work – in La hand to the buttocks, he imagines the harassment of a man by… a woman. Sardou is a chameleon. We will finally deplore the systematic trial made against Michel Sardou over his few political songs. Quoted by Rossignol, The Cities of Solitude, a sort of almost far-left Clockwork Orange, offers a turnaround. At the end of the song, the idle man who wanted to “rape women” or “crucify the cashier” reassures himself: “He doesn’t break anything.” Making Sardou the representative of “rape culture” is a big mistake. Or malice. Six years after the controversy surrounding Sardou’s title, Berger and Plamondon composed When we arrive in town. Should we recall the words? “Who is it that rapes girls at night in parking lots? Who sets buildings on fire? It’s always the zonards,” sings Daniel Balavoine. Without this arousing emotion, anger or litigation. Even in 2024.